Hidden
by Lovinyou7
Summary: A little background on Dylan. It is a lot better than it sounds, please read it!


**So, I've had this idea since before Max had ever even talked to a girl, and Dylan is exactly how I imagined this girl. I just thought I would write out my thoughts on this, and see where it takes me. I'm pretty sure this will be a one-shot, but if you all want more, I may make it two or three chapters, but you would have to let me know, and updates would probably be slow. Anyway, here is the story!**

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><p><strong>Kristina's POV<strong>

It felt like an extremely long day, and all I wanted was to go home, knowing Adam was planning a little something extra special for me this weekend. I stood against a wall watching the kids at the school, my school. I spotted Max in the room of students, he was all alone. I wondered where Dylan was, but thought it might be for the best that Max learned to be without her for a couple minutes. It seemed the two of them hardly ever spent any time apart. It was cool that Max finally had a friend, but it also felt weird to me, especially because she was a girl, and she actually seemed interested in Max. I was soon brought out of my thoughts by Dylan standing right next to me. I jumped a little, not expecting her to be there. "Oh, hey Dylan." I said.

"Hey Mrs. B." That had become her nickname for me. "Um, I- I'm sorry, but I can't come over tonight. My parents are finally back in town, and they want to see me."

"Oh, no, yeah. Of course. I totally understand. You go spend some time with your parents, I'm sure they miss you a ton!"

"Yeah." She said. "Okay, well, I have to go. I'll see you later, Mrs. B!" Then she was gone.

Yeah, sure I told her everything was fine, it was, it really was. I was just concerned about Max. He doesn't do too well with changing up the plans. Adam and I have been trying to work with him on it, but we still have quite a ways to go. I just hoped Dylan wouldn't try to explain it to Max herself, he would have probably had a meltdown at school. Luckily though, she didn't.

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><p>When we arrived home from school that day, that was when Max realized Dylan wasn't coming over. "Where's Dylan? She's supposed to be here." He said. I knew this was going to be rough.<p>

"Um, bud, she's not coming over today. She needs to spend some time with her own family."

"No, but she told me she would come over. Why would she do that to me? I only like her at a four and a half now."

"Max, you have to understand that she has a family too, and she can't live with us all the time."

"I know she can't live with us, only family can live with us. But when she says she's going to come over, she has to come over! This isn't fair!"

"I know it doesn't seem fair, but you can invite her over tomorrow."

"I don't want her coming over tomorrow. She lied, and I don't like liars."

"Max, why don't you just go to your room, and think about this for a little bit, okay?"

"Okay, I think she's at one now. We are strictly in the friend zone, but I don't even want to be friends with her anymore, but the scale is only from one to five, and one is the lowest possible number I could give her."

"That is correct, Max." He was handling this surprisingly well. It would seem extreme for any other kid, but for Max, this was good, he had come a long way. I was so proud of him.

He finally made his way up the stairs, and into his room, just before Adam arrived home.

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><p>I had just tucked Nora in her bed, and was about to say goodnight to Max when, there was a knock at the door. I went to answer it, and I will never forget what I saw when I answered the door. It was Dylan.<p>

"Hey, Dylan, come on in."

"Thank you. I'm so sorry. I just didn't know where else to go."

"What do you mean? I thought you were with your parents?"

"Yeah, they came back, you know, saw me and everything. Now they have their friends over, and it's just ridiculously loud at my house. So can I crash here? If you don't mind?"

"Yeah, sure. Did you want to say hi to Max at all?" I asked, even though I wasn't sure how he would react to seeing her.

I was relieved when she replied with a quiet, "no." She shrugged. "I can just stay here on the couch, out of your way."

"No, you can stay in Haddie's room, it's really not a problem."

"Thank you. You guys have been like my family, it's really nice."

I was touched by her kind words. "Aww, thank you. Can I have a hug?" I asked, and she opened her arms, and I pulled her into mine. I felt her flinch, and all of her muscles tighten at my touch. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you or…" luckily she cut me off, I had no idea what I had done, all I knew was that she reacted.

"No, it's fine. I've just, my family, we played some basketball, and I got a huge bruise, that's all."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's fine. I'm just gonna go up to the room now if that's cool?"

"Yeah, sure." I said, and I watched her walk up the stairs, grasping onto the railing on her way up.

Once the kids were all in bed, I climbed into my own bed next to Adam. I told him about my conversation with Dylan since it had been on my mind. Somehow, he managed to fit kissing into our conversation. I didn't mind, I enjoyed it. We laid in one another's embrace for a while, but we eventually ended up falling asleep on our own sides of the bed.

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><p>The next morning when I woke up, I walked into the living room, and I saw Dylan sitting on the couch with a blanket. "Hey, are you okay? Can I get you anything for breakfast?"<p>

"I'm not hungry." She said, and looked up at me. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and I took a seat next to her on the couch.

"Nothing, I'm sorry. I'm fine, really, I am."

I shook my head. "Dylan, I don't know what is going on, but just know, if you ever want to talk, I'll be here to listen." I said, then I went to stand up, but I was stopped by a hand grabbing my wrist, I turned back around to Dylan, and more tears fell from her eyes. I sat back down.

"My, um, my brother. He had Asperger's. He was a few years older than me. He was killed... a little less than a year ago."

"Really?" I asked, still in shock of what she had just told me. It was probably one of the worst reactions I could've had, but she really caught me off guard.

"My- my parents. They um, they couldn't handle it... him. He drowned in our swimming pool, supposedly an accident."

I could not believe what she was telling me, but I held the same expression, and didn't let on how much it was affecting me. "But you think differently?"

"I know. My- my window was open. I heard my mom say 'it's done.' My dad asked if he should call 911, but my mom said, 'give him five minutes.' My parents told me I couldn't tell anyone, or I would be the one in trouble. I never spoke a word. But I can't keep lying. I like you guys too much."

Tears were streaming down her face, and I pulled her into a hug. My heart was shattered into a million tiny pieces. "You did the right thing by telling someone." I whispered into her ear as we hugged.

Dylan pulled back from the hug, and wiped the tears. "I thought they were going to kill me last night."

"What happen?" I asked, even though I didn't want to hear it. I thought I might be sick if she were to go into too much detail.

She closed her eyes, and took in a breath. I could tell this was hard on her, but I had to be sure before I reported it. Actually, I would report it anyway, but I needed to know for myself. Dylan slowly lifted her shirt, and revealed her skin covered in dark bruises. I couldn't believe anyone could ever do that to their child. I let a tear slip from my eye, I couldn't help it.

Adam walked down the stairs, and I knew he had seen. The look on his face said it all. Dylan pulled her shirt down quickly, and I shot Adam a look. He respectfully walked back up the stairs, and I returned my attention to Dylan.

"Dylan, I am going to take care of you. I promise you, they will never hurt you again." She fell back in my arms for another hug, and I was gentler this time, aware of the bruises.

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><p><strong>So, if you liked it, please review, if not, please still review. I want to hear you opinions on this. I may do one more chapter, but I may leave it at this, I don't really know yet. Let me know what I should do! This is my first Parenthood fanfic so, I would really love to hear what you have to say!<strong>


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